Tuesday, July 31, 2007

Pakistan's beleaguered president Pervez Musharaf is a tad upset at the proposed new US aid bill, and says it could could hurt ties between the US and Pakistan.

It actually conditions aid for Pakistan to progress in tackling Al Qaeda and the Taliban..I mean, the nerve of those Americans!

Musharraf used the occasion of meeting with the new US ambassador to Pakistan, Anne Patterson, who called on him to present her credentials to blast the new aid bill and once again reiterate that Pakistan would not tolerate US forces going into Pakistan to oust the Taliban or al Qaeda in the tribal areas, that Pakistani Army is fully capable of dealing with these people, and that neither Al Qaeda nor any other group would be allowed to make them a safe haven.

Which sounds just a little bit different than the agreement Musharraf signed with them to give them a free hand in Waziristan..

Now, personally, my first choice for an operation would be to see us snatch the renegade Pakistani scientist Dr. AQ Kahn and find out exactly what he gave to Iran and most likely others. To this day, Musharraf won't allow him to be interrogated.

Can it be that we're finally realizing that some of these people are not our friends?

In any event, I have a feeling that General Musharraf may be retiring fairly soon to enjoy the fruits of his labors in Paris or Rio.

And what happens with a nuclear armed al Qaeda sanctuary once he's gone? No doubt we'll find out.

The Washington Post published an interview with the number three ranking Democrat in the House, Majority Whip James Clyburn (d-SC) which had him admitting something most of us have known all along...that his party's leadership is invested in America's defeat.

In a video interview with reporters Dan Balz and Chris Cillizza, Clyburn, when asked `What if General Petraeus comes back in September with a positive report, responded " That would be a real great problem for us, I'll tell you."

While Clyburn said he personally hoped for good news from Iraq, his implication was obvious.

Clyburn suggested that Democrats wait until September's report before taking steps to force a withdrawal from Iraq. Even if his party's leadership takes his advice, look for a frenzied attempt to discredit General Petraeus between now and then.

Monday, July 30, 2007

As more and more of his potential supporters learn about Fred Thompson's choice of open borders advocate and pro-Islamist ex-senator and lobbyist Spencer Abraham as his campaign manager, Thompson's luster as th egreat GOP savior has begun to dim precipitously.

And Michelle Malkin also did a short bit with Laura Ingraham on her national show.

As I said in my piece, no one who's serious about winning the War Against Jihad would want a tool like Abraham anywhere near him.Either Thompson was ignorant about Abraham's background, which means he lacks the judgment to be president, or he knew about it and appointed Abraham anyway...which means that no one who's serious about fighting this war or controlling the borders should remotely consider supporting him.

I think we're done with stealth candidates who talk the talk but don't walk the walk.

The Shaykh, may Allah be merciful towards him, said in a tape recording regarding this topic:

“And the second (matter) is the forbiddance of killing women and children in times of war. But if it is said: ‘ If they (the kuffar) do this to us- meaning that they kill our children and women- Then do we then kill them?

The apparent [Thahir] is that it is (permissible) for us to kill their women and children- even if it means that we lose profit/benefit from it [since keeping them alive is a profit/benefit because they become the property of the Muslims]; (and killing them in this situation is permissible) due to it threatening the hearts of the enemies and a humiliation for them.

(or, in the words of the OG Mohammed when asked this question "Their women and children are of them")

And to (purposely) destroy property (which could later belong) for the Muslims (by killing them in this case) is nothing strange. And due to this, the baggage, the baggage of the one who steals from the Ghanimah (AKA spoils, booty - ff) is burned, even though in that, there is the loss of some property of one the fighters.

Then if someone says:

‘If they rape our women then do we rape their women?’

No, this, no, no we do not do it. Why? Because this is prohibited as a (whole) category [i.e. it is forbidden within itself], and it is not possible for us to do it.

Meaning, it is not forbidden out of respect for the rights of others [i.e. not because we are respecting their rights] - rather, because it is forbidden as a category [ i.e. the action of ‘intercourse’]. So it is not permissible for us to rape their women.

But if the dividing (of the Ghanimah) takes place, and the woman from them ends up as a slave woman, then she becomes property of the right hand. The person can have intercourse with her as a right hand possession, which is permissible and there is nothing wrong with this”

( In other words, if the women are captives and slaves, they are part of what `thy right hand posseses' - so it's not rape, and therefore permissible..which explains Darfur and Beslan)

Later on, the Shaykh was asked about the fact that the women being killed are not the ones who killed our women, so is this justice? So he answered:

What is justice? Not at all. They kill our women, we kill their women. This is the justice. It’s not justice to say ‘if they kill our women we won’t kill your women.’ Because this, I notice from this that it has many enormous affects on them”

End of quote from Shaykh Muhammad Ibn Salih Al-Uthaymin, may Allah have mercy upon him.

(Refer to the side “B” from the third cassette of Kita b al-Jihad from Sharh Bulugh al-Mara m. Or download it from the Shaykh’s own website:

http://www.binothaimeen.com/sound/snd/a0020/A0020-3B.rm

I cite the above with the usual disclaimer...there are many peace-loving, decent Muslims who would never use this as justification to kill children and rape women.

But the fact is that Islam does contain religious justification for these acts -both in the Qu'ran and in the hadiths.

And what would be morally indefensible to other faiths does in fact have justification in Islam, and that justification is a mainstream and fundamentalist interpretation of the faith.

And this comes at a time when the Saudi role in providing foreign fighters and homicide bombers for al Qaeda to kill our men in Iraq has just been exposed to new scrutiny.

The administration is attempting to buy votes for the deal in what is still a mostly pro-Israel congress by tying the Saudi package to a new military aid package for Israel . The increased aid to Israel is also supposed to allay concerns from Israel and its supporters about the Saudis receiving such a large chunk o' lethal merchandise from the US.

According to State department spokesmouths, the US also is going to ask the Saudis to accept restrictions on the range, size and location of the satellite-guided bombs, and promise not to store them at air bases close to Israeli territory as part of the deal.

This is a good time to point out that the Saudis made exactly those commitments in order to get their hands on the last load of American aircraft and AWACS we sold them...and then located them at bases within striking distance of Israel.

What the Bush Administration isn't talking about is what we're supposed to get in return from the Saudis for all this weaponry. The administration has made it clear that it isn't looking for specific assurances from our Saudi `allies' that they are going to help stabilize Iraq by cutting down on the jihadis emanating from their country as a condition of receiving the arms package. The Saudis have already said no to that anyway.

So, what's the deal here? I think I have a pretty good idea.

This is another desert mirage like President Bush's Arab democracy fantasy or the attempted coup d'etat by Fatah against Hamas.

US Secretary of State Condi Rice and SecDef Robert Gates are going to Riyadh together next week with the idea of holding the advanced arms and other carrots out in an attempt to get the Saudis, along with Oman and Kuwait to actually hold the line in containing the Iran/Syria/Hamas/Hezbollah axis after most of the US land forces leave.

The idea is to increase the size of the armed forces in these kingdoms and use them as a counterbalance in the event of a confrontation with Iran. If the Saudis go along, the Saudi air force will end up almost the size of Israel’s, and equipped with the most modern equipment the US can provide. This is why Vladimir Putin countered with a major arms deal to upgrade the air force of Russia's proxy in the region, selling 250 long-range SU-30MKM fighter-bombers to Iran as I reported on July 27th.

Since upgrading and expanding the Sunni and Gulf Emirates military is going to take some time, it's pretty obvious to me that President Bush is likely not planning any action against Iran until near the end of his term, if then, and that he has adopted the plan of trying to `contain' Iran - using newly militarized proxies like the Saudis as part of that strategy.

This is a problem on several levels.The idea of `containment' of Iran using Sunni autocrats as proxies is wishful thinking.

For one thing, the Saudis and the other Gulf nations are not exactly what I'd call loyal and trustworthy allies, and there no reason to suppose that they are not much more aligned with Iran than we think. As a matter of fact, there's good reason to believe that Iran and the Saudis have already ironed out a lot of their differences and come to various agreements on their relative spheres of influence. Remember, the Saudis have their own Shiite problem, in the Persian Gulf part of Saudi Arabia where the oil is. It's pretty easy to connect the dots and imagine a series of mutually satisfying arrangements with Iran...especially since both the Saudis and Iran can see how Congress is behaving and read the press to figure out the sort of support President Bush enjoys at home. And Iran has already made significant headway in persuading the Saudis and the Emirates to sign a mutual defense pact and present a united front against Israel and the West.

The Bush Administration is still trying to manipulate the historic Sunni-Shiite conflict for their own purposes. Unfortunately, they either don't realize or have forgotten that when it comes to jihad against the West, these two factions have always been prepared to bury their differences temporarily to combine against the infidel for the conquest of dar harb.

Second, even in the highly unlikely event that the Saudis do fight Iran, there's no reason to think that they would be any more effective than Fatah was against Hamas..even with all the spiffy hardware and weaponry.They're a rotten choice for a proxy. And in any event, the extra time given to Iran would allow them time to complete their nuclear project, and to deploy all of the modern weaponry they're getting from the Russians.

Tthird, the Bush Administration has a long history of providing gimmees to the Kingdom and asking them for quid pro quos without much of a return. The Saudis have consistently refused to curtail the export of hardline wahabism and jihad propaganda to the radical mosques and madrassahs they control in the US, refused to honor their pledge to change some of their trade practices to conform with US law after Dubbyah personally lobbied to get the Saudis into the WTO, stop the flow of Saudi fighters and homicide bombers to Iraq, or raise oil production to help stabilize the market.

Obviously, for whatever reason, the president just doesn't seem to do well when it comes to crafting deals with the Saudis that work to America's advantage.

Congress needs to oppose this farce. It's high time we planned our war strategy with a major dose of reality.

WM: Whaddya think all those the Campus speeches and appearances are for? Hee hee hee hee! Some of those coed primates really know how to party...and they love to hang with this monkey. They love me for..uh.. my ideas.

FF: You better keep your nose and every other part of you clean, Monkey. Remember what happened to Gary Hart? And I hope you're not indulging in any questionable substances..you're supposed to be a role model.

WM: Nothing but a beer here and there and a little Bushmill's and banana extract every now and then. And remember, you turned me on to that.

FF: Horse manure, Monkey, I never taught you to pollute good whiskey with banana extract as a mixer!

WM: So I'm innovative...what can I say? Let's run down the week in politics for the primates.

FF: Right...the You Tube groove thang, Monkey?

WM: Watch it FF, you're sounding like Hillary doing her mammy act! I gotta say, I'm glad this was one they didn't invite me to. I mean,. what is this, a combination of American Idol and America's Funniest Home Videos?

FF: Remember the Gong Show?

WM: Hee Hee!! Good one!

FF: Seriously though, I think that originally, TV imitated our culture...now,it's like our culture imitates TV. Y'know, I was talking to my mom the other day -

WM: You had a mother? And she admits to it?

FF: Aw, shaddup! Anyway, my mom is a lifelong Democrat...she even goes to the state convention as a delegate. She told me she's never seen such a sorry bunch, and she's been in politics for over thirty years.

WM: Hmmm..think she'd endorse me?

FF: You'd be surprised what you can get for a coupla bingo cards or a trip to one of the casinos with a complimentary buffet these days. You probably need a position paper on seniors anyway...put that little scumbag Beibersnatch to work on it.

WM: Not a bad idea, could be a whole new constituency for me. And don't call Beibersnatch a scumbag, OK?

FF: Are you kidding? He nearly got you roughed up by a couple of illegal aliens back in L.A.

WM: As a presidential candidate,I've learned tolerance for the mistakes of others...

FF: Well, Kum-freaking-bayah!(Laughter)

WM: (Laughing) OK, OK, you got me. So, you think Gonzales is toast?

FF: Yeah, maybe. This is the politics of revenge..though I have to admit, he does strike me as not the sharpest tool in the shed.

WM: Yeah, especially if he really did screw up on his testimony. I mean the guy's a lawyer.

FF: I think he's just another link to eventually get to Bush and Cheney. Remember Monkey, we have a bet, Six to four that he doesn't finish his term. And you took the longshot.

WM: I sure did, and I stand by it..wait n' see. You can't poop on your pals the way Bush has and hang with them. The way I see it, the best thing he has going for him is the fact that he's only got another 18 months to go.

FF: Even Rush was talking about how the impetus for impeachment is getting stronger. And whatever you think of his views, Monkey, his track record for predictions is pretty good.

WM: What about your pals the ReThugs, FF? How are they looking?

FF: Well, Monkey, you know Dick Morris?

WM: Yeah,nice guy unless he gets into too much Inca Marching powder.

FF: (sigh) Anyway, he said that who ever is still in front of the pack by Labor Day is likely to be the nominee for both the Dems and the GOP. I still think we're going to see a Giuliani/Clinton matchup.

WM: I dunno, FF. I think we're gonna see some late entries, at least from the GOP. And don't count me out yet,either.I just need more exposure.

WM: I could see Gingritch getting in. Fred Thompson probably will too,but I think once people find out more about him,he might not look so good as he does now.And I wouldn't write Obama off for the Dems. I think it's gonna be a fight, at least in my party, right down to the wire. For the Republicans, I think Giuliani's the only one with a hope of getting elected so far.

FF: Yeah,I've pretty much written Fred Thompson off myself. I mean Spencer Abraham?

WM: Yeah, not the smartest move if you're trying to convince people you're strong on national security,huh?

FF: Well, better we know now,right? What's up with you these days, by the way?

WM: I think Grupstein was saying something about how I'm doing some more TV next week....I'll let you know. And howcum you haven't been covering more of my events, FF?

FF: Well, Monkey, you're pretty much sticking to your stump speech, it's mostly on college campuses and let's face it, a lot of the rallies afterwards are kinda like a slightly cleaned up Girls Gone Wild DVD. I'll see if I can't throw you some more coverage,but you have to try different locales...more local color, OK?

WM: I'll take it under advisement.

FF: OK Monkey. By the way, do you know the two strongest days of the week?

WM: Huh? Nope.

FF: Saturday and Sunday, Monkey..`cause the others are `weak' days!

WM: Ouch,that was awful, FF! But I guess that means it's that time again....Have a great weekend,Primates! Vote Monkey! You have a good one too,FF...

FF: Take care, Monkey. And that goes for the rest of you out there...see you in 24 or so.

In his NRO piece Saudi in the classroom , Kurz discusses how our Eternal Friends the Saudis discovered how to outflank America’s K-12 curriculum safeguards, using the system of federal subsidies to university programs of Middle East Studies (under Title VI of the Higher Education Act).

Since these Federally subsidized Middle East Studies centers are required to pursue public outreach, including lesson plans and seminars on the Middle East for America’s K-12 teachers, it slips right by the usual public oversight. And needless to say, since the Saudis have essentially purchased the Middle East Studies programs in most major universities, and since the outreach programs are staffed by outreach coordinators or teach trainers they have selected and trained, it's a natural way in for Saudi propaganda in our schools...courtesy of the American tax payer!

Kurz cites an investigation done by Sandra Stotsky, a former director of a professional development institute for teachers at Harvard, and a former senior associate commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Education.

Stotsky was the associate commissioner after 9/11, when the Massachusetts Department of Education decided to organize special seminars in Islamic history for K-12 teachers and decided to utilize a program offered to them by Harvard’s Center for Middle Eastern Studies.

The program was supposed to cover topics likethe nature of Islamic Fundamentalism and terrorism, the lack of democracy in the Middle East, and the problem of basic legal and political rights for women in most of the Muslim world.

Instead, the Harvard program concentrated on promoting the Saudi view of the Arab-Israeli conflict, promoting Islam as a religion, and criticizing US policies in the Middle East. Stotsky realized the programwas driven by what she characterized as Harvard's “distorted” and “manipulative” political agenda.

It included training for teachers on the life and teachings of Mohammed, the “revelation” of Islam, and exercises calling on students to “appoint imams,” memorize Islamic principles, and act out prayer at a Mosque.

One of the teaching aids was called the “The Arab World Studies Notebook.” The “Notebook” is essentially a text offering uncritical praise for the Arab world and Islam. Or, as Stotsky referred to it, “a piece of propaganda.” It's especially is designed to induce teachers to promote wahabi Islam and to political views in line with the Saudi-funded the Middle East Policy Council (formerly the Arab American Affairs Council).

In it she wrote : “Most of these materials have been prepared and/or funded by Islamic sources here and abroad, and are distributed or sold directly to schools or individual teachers, thereby bypassing public scrutiny.”

The methods used even included all-expenses paid trips to the Kingdom for specially selected teacher-tools.

Congress may finally be taking a look at this. Senators Ted Kennedy and Mike Enzi have already concluded a bipartisan agreement to reform Title VI and oversee what's being shoveled out in the name of `outreach',but it remains to be seen whether it passes in view of the probable opposition by the teacher's lobby.

Even if it passes, it's merely a good beginning in rooting out Saudi influence in our schools and our society. There's lots more to be done.

They apparently want him charged with perjury for testimony he gave to congress relating to the Bush Administration's firing of those nine federal prosecutors and the terrorist surveillance program that involved warrantless wiretapping. You know,the one the New York Times outed so it was of no further use...

It's obvious to me that the Democrat controlled Congress is `working up the ladder' towards charges against Bush and Cheney.

Blast near Pakistan's Red mosque kills 13 Turmoil in Pakistan continues as a hundreds of Madrassah students clashed with police and a restaurant near the Red Mosque was targeted by a suicide bomber. The casualties were mainly police eating lunch.

Now that Ousted Supreme Court justice Choudry has been reinstated by the courts, Musharraf is facing an increasing revolt in Pakistan as his popularity drops.

Considering whom Brown has appointed to his government and the way they've been talking recently, take it from me that, rhetoric aside, the relationship is likely to be a more distant one.

Pity.

The Russians have just completed one of the largest arms deals in their history with Iran, selling them 250 long-distance Sukhoi fighter-bombers and 20 fuel tankers. The deal, running into tens of billions of dollars went through the Russian government owned Rosoboronexport and calls for 250 Su-30MKM warplanes and 20 IL-78 MKI fuel tankers, with Iran stipulating delivery before the end of 2007.

This will provide Iran with a long range air attack capability, something they didn't have before. With the fuel tankers, the Iranian planes can strike anywhere in the Middle East, including Israel and Lebanon.The new planes will make Iran's air force one of the major ones in the region.

The Russians are reportedly already training Iranian pilots and ground crew on the new aircraft.

The Russians have also pledged that Iran's Bushehr reactor will be online as scheduled, by the end of 2007.

Peggy Noonan has an interesting bit this week, claiming that We live in an age of great wealth--and lousy manners.

Thursday, July 26, 2007

If anyone still had any doubts, Condi Rice made it painfully obvious that President Bush visualizes his Middle East `legacy' and a peaceful US withdrawal from Iraq as coming at Israel's expense.

Today, US Secretary of State Condi Rice made a point of dispelling illusions by the likes of Michael Oren and others who touted the president's July speech as somehow reaffirming the Bush Doctrine. And what's more, she chose an Arab media outlet, the US-funded Alhurra Arabic-language satellite network to do it.

In her interview, Rice insisted that "the future of Israel is in building a strong Israeli state in places like the Negev and Galilee" and not "under the continued occupation of the West Bank."

An interesting choice of words indeed from someone who once referred to Hamas as a `resistance movement' and shook hands with the murderers of Fatah's Tanzim.

Of course, Rice is only talking about part of the Galilee. The Bush Administration is also leaning on the Olmert government to return the Golan to Syria and make that Jew free as well so that the Syrians can once again rain rockets and artillery fire down on the Jews below....in exchange for Syria curtailing the flow of arms and foreign jihadis into Iraq so the US can withdraw gracefully.

In diplospeak, that came out as Syria must "engage in policies that suggest that it is going to be a productive and constructive member of the international community."

Just in case anyone was having difficulty with the translation, she then added that Syria she added, was "destabilizing" parts of the Middle East and allowing terrorists to enter Iraq through its border.

Rice also pledged that she and President George W Bush will "give every ounce of our energy to try and help to move forward on the two-state solution to establish the Palestinian state. I can't tell you that it will all be done when we are finished here, but I can tell you that there will be a Palestinian state."

Arafat II Abbas is obviously in the loop,because he too let everyone know that President Bush promised him a second Arab Palestinian state before he leaves in January, 2009.

The kicker of course, will come when Hamas and Fatah hook up again and the US is once again financing an admitted terrorist entity as well as one we pretend isn't one. The Bush Administration will finesse that one by saying that this Palestinian state he promised isn't possible without Hamas and Gaza..so of course the American taxpayer will be funding all of it.

Bush's basic strategy is to bribe the Palestinians (and by extension, the Saudis) with American money and Israeli land as Israel is pressured to make more and more concessions to the Palestinians in exchange for a few photo-ops and some worthless guarantees.

Thus far, even the guarantees aren't there. Abbas has gotten a commitment from the US of almost half a billion dollars. From Olmert, he's already gotten an amnesty for Fatah terrorists, several shipments of arms and ammunition, millions in tax monies and the release of 256 Fatah terrorists from Israeli custody..all in exchange for absolutely nothing.

Oslo redux, in other words.

The president is fortunate in having a terminally weak Israeli government to work with, complete with a prime minister desperate to survive in in office and avoid being dragged off to jail.

If these circumstances combine to force Israel back to indefensible borders,the result will not be peace..although President Bush might be safely out of office by the time the hammer falls.

Nor will Israel's demise and emasculation go without consequences for the US and the West. There are always major payback from selling out an ally during wartime.

I'd advise the Israelis not to count on the president's good will, and quickly get themselves a government willing to stand up to the Bush Administration and say no...while they still have a country. Israel still has plenty of friends here who realize its importance to America's war against jihad, but ultimately they will have to provide a standard for those friends to gather around. Olmert and Tzipi Livni ain't even in the ballgame.

As for the present occupant of the White House..enjoy your retirement, Mr. President. The sooner, the better.

Up until now, I've had a `wait and see' attitude towards the candidacy of Fred Thompson, in spite of his light resume. The fact that a lot of people, especially in his home state seem to have a fairly high opinion of him was reason enough for me to keep an open mind,pending further data.

That's no longer true. Fred Thompson just revealed a lot about himself by picking, of all people, ex-Michigan Senator Spencer Abraham as his campaign manager.

I'm actually quite familiar with Abraham. As Michigan's senator, he was a major proponent of open borders and actually received a major award from The National Council of La Raza in 1997 for his sterling work in obstructing any kind of control of immigration.

And as Michelle Malkin reveals here, Spencer Abraham was also instrumental in preventing the implementation of two different tracking databases–one for foreign student visa holders and the other for all temporary visitors mandated by US law. On September 11, 2001, neither of those databases was in place, and they remain incomplete as I write this.

Even worse, Abraham, an Arab-American of Lebanese decent has consistently come down on the wrong side when it comes to Islamic terrorism, consistently voted against Israel and was actually a lobbyist for Arab nations after he stepped down as energy secretary under President George W. Bush's administration.

Blogpal Debbie Schlussel, who knows him quite well has the details here, including Abraham's being one of only two Senators in the U.S. Senate who refused to sign a letter calling on President Clinton to condemn Palestinian terrorism and Yasser Arafat, at the height of the homicide bombings in Israel in the last part of Mr. Bill's second term, and his shilling for CAIR, and other questionable Islamists, as well as his sponsorship of USAid grants fro aid to Hezbollah controlled South Lebanon to the tune of over $200 million.

No one who's serious about winning the War Against Jihad would want a tool like Abraham anywhere near him.Either Thompson was ignorant about Abraham's background, which means he lacks the judgment to be president, or he knew about it and appointed Abraham anyway...which means that no one who's serious about fighting this war should remotely consider supporting him.

I'll be interested to hear what Thompson himself has to say about this...and his supporters, many of whom I know to be extremely decent people.

Rudy Giuliani has been the most outspoken of any of the candidates on the topic of Islamic fascism, and it's gotten him his very own fatwa from CAIR....you know, the Saudi and UAE funded Islamist group who are unindicted co-conspirators in the Holy Land Foundation Hamas funding trial.

CAIR has now put out one of their infamous action alerts on the GOP candidate because he dared take the democrat presidential hopefuls to task for not using the words `Islamic terrorism':

"At no time during their three debates have they used the words 'Islamic terrorists,'" Giuliani said of the Democratic contenders who as he spoke were debating at The Citadel military college in South Carolina.

CAIR is asking their people to contact the Giuliani campaign and express their outrage that anyone would dare make a connection between Islam and terrorism.

I encourage Joshua's Army to encourage Rudy Giuliani to stand up to them, and to let his campaign know that knuckling under to these folks is not something we're prepared to accept in a potential commander in chief.

Or,as I put in in my own e-mail, we've already had the experience of living with a president with his lips superglued to the Saudi's posteriors...we don't need a repeat performance.

Uhhh..you should probably be more polite than I was, gang! In any event, let Giuliani's campaign hear from you.

Wednesday, July 25, 2007

Two facts that should be known up front. First of all, ratings-wise this debate was a dismal failure, with only 2.5 million viewers total and only around 600,000 in the 18-54 demographic. Fox or the alphabet networks would be seething over those numbers behind the scenes if they had hosted this nonsense.

Secondly, all of the videos were available to the candidates beforehand for them to peruse. Rather than a debate, this was the equivalent of tee-ball. And even at that, some of the candidates tried to queer the mix by having their supporters send in multiple versions of the same question...which is why Anderson Cooper gently chided Joe Biden, the worst offender.

With all that advance prep, you would have expected some more substantive statements, or even some slogan worthy sound bites.

Uhhhh...nope!

When you cut through the HappyTalk and verbiage, every one of the Democrat candidatesfavor increased taxes and a transfer of wealth from the middle class to those the government deems worthy....which of course is mostly government itself, when you run it down.

They all call for increased funding for education as a sop to the teacher's unions..and never mind that simply throwing money at the problem without a basic reform of the way public educations works in America has actually made it worse, not better. And they all want the government to get its mitts on healthcare in a big way.

When it comes to international affairs, not one of these people has a single idea on how to win this war we're engaged in or how to defend the country.Their ideas in dealing with international affairs all revolve around `diplomacy', regardless of whether it has a remote chance of working.

The porcine Bill Richardson provides a fine example, in talking about Darfur:

"This is what I would do: It’s diplomacy. It’s getting U.N. peacekeeping troops and not African Union troops. It’s getting China to pressure Sudan. It’s getting the European Union to be part of economic sanctions in Sudan. It’s called leadership.... United Nations peacekeeping troops, and that would primarily be Muslim troops."

Someone should gently explain to him that it is the Muslim bloc,Russia and China who have blocked any meaningful action of Darfur. And that the Sudan's government has said, ad nauseum that they will not allow UN forces in their country. Does Governor Richardson plan to shoot his way in? Considering that he favors an immediate withdrawal from Iraq?

Needless to say, no one brought unimportant little matters like this up..for him, or any of the other candidates. But then, this is someone who compared the US border fence to the Berlin Wall, and yet still thinks he's qualified to lead the Free World.

Or Barack Obama when asked if he would he would be willing to meet without preconditions with the leaders of Iran, Syria, North Korea Cuba, and Venezuela:

"I would. And the reason is this, that the notion that somehow not talking to countries is punishment to them -- which has been the guiding diplomatic principle of this administration -- is ridiculous.

"And I think that it is a disgrace that we have not spoken to them. We’ve been talking about Iraq -- one of the first things that I would do in terms of moving a diplomatic effort in the region forward is to send a signal that we need to talk to Iran and Syria because they’re going to have responsibilities if Iraq collapses."

Again, someone should clue the Senator in that diplomacy has been ongoing for months with some of these countries ( particularly Iran) without anything other than lies, dissembling and lack of progress. And perhaps someone should also explain to him that Iran and Syria not only have a vested interest in chaos in Iraq, they're actively promoting it.

And this man has the unmitigated gall to tell people he has 'better judgment' on foreignpolicy than any of the other candidates?

Now there was one issue where the candidates seem to be in a real horse race: How quickly would you retreat from Iraq?

Senators Clinton and Obama eseentially said they wanted the withdrawal to start now and be completed by March 2009 - about 8 months.

Dennis Kucinich was at least honest about it, and said that the Democrats need to put their money where their mouths were,defund the war and get our troops out immediately. I'm sure he envisions a full bore,helter-skelter retreat as soon as possible.

The aforementioned Governor Bill Richardson said the same, and that he could get all the troops out in five months, Senator Chris Dodd claimed he could get it done in seven months, while Sen. Joe Biden said it would take at least nine months to a year to move American troops and civilians out.

My, my. I have to give it to Kucinich, by a nose.

None of them is even remotely considering the casualties that would occur, both civilian and military as our Army is evacuated after being chased out of Iraq. Can you imagine 250,000 people trying to retreat through a sniper, truck bomb and IED environment from a country as big as Iraq?

Remember, this won't be like a handful of embassy personnel lifting off a rooftop in Saigon in a helicopter. We had already removed almost all of our soldiers and civilians before the Democrats negotiated that surrender. This one will be very different.

And that's not even taking into account the score settling and blood letting that would go on among the Iraqis.

And of course, the big ommission of the night - just as in all the other debates, not one of the Democrat candidates even mentioned the danger of Islamist terrorism, how they would combat it or what they would do to win the war we're engaged in.

Not one of these people is remotely qualified, either psychologically or by virtue of experience to be the next commander-in-chief. And while, true enough, thats not the whole enchilada, it's the major quality we are going to have to look for now, given this war that has been waged upon us.

What these people are essentially holding out to the American people is a return to the vacation of history we had during the Clinton years.

I would hope the American people would remember how that ended up turning out.

Some of you may have read my piece on how the `John doe' Amendment, a commonsense piece of legislation designed to give immunity from lawsuits to people who report suspicious activity like the Fort Dix video or the behavior of the jumpin' Imams was killed in committee by the Democrat leadership.

Well, thanks to Senators Joe Lieberman and Susan Collins, the chairman and ranking minority member, respectively, of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, and Representative Peter King, the legislation will shortly become law.

The language will provide protection against the sorts of harassment lawsuits filed by the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), a front organization for the Muslim Brotherhood and an unindicted co-conspirator in a terrorism-financing plot.

What happened,of course is that the amount of light shone on the attempt to bury this - and the amount of heat it generated from bloggers, the new media and of course you, the public - made certain people think twice.

Every week, the Watcher's Council members nominate two posts each, one from the Council members and one from outside for consideration by the whole Council. The complete list of this week's Council nominations can be found at the site of our fearless leader, Watcher of Weasels

Do take the time and check out the non-Council links..they are always rewarding.

Here's this week's Council lineup:

1.Palestinian Prisoner's Release: Rattlesnake Logic This week,in yet another attempt to `bolster' our preferred terrorists, Mahmoud Abbas and Fatah, the US pushed Israel into releasing 256 prisoners held in Israeli custody as some kind of good faith gesture. And to be fair, given the innate weakness of the Olmert government, the Bush Administration didn't have to squeeze very hard.

This has been celebrated by the dinosaur media as a move towards peace in the Arab-Israeli conflict. In fact, it is anything but. Abbas referred to these prisoners as `heroes of freedom' and vows never to rest until the rest of the ones still in Israeli custody are released. When you consider whom these prisoners actually are, what they've done and how those deeds are being celebrated by the Palestinians, you get a much clearer idea of the Palestinians' agenda.

And peace isn't part of it.

2. Done With Mirrors;Snark vs Smart 2 Callimachus continues to dissect the nature of `snark' this time using and ad hominum attack on ace correspondent Michael J. Totten's reports from Iraq as a vehicle.

3. Soccer Dad: Prisoners to Prisoner releases Soccer Dad and I have been on somewhat similar wavelengths lately. He likewise looks at the Palestinian prisoner release, and has a great piece showing the original agreements between Israel and the Palestinians, which Arafat (and his deputy in Fatah, Mahmoud Abbas) cavalierly discarded like so much used toilet tissue.

The more things change, the more they stay the same. Until we learn...

4. The Glittering Eye :Discussing What next in Iraq This week, The Glittering Eye's Dave Schuler continues his series on Iraq, and asks that we consider our strategy with an eye ( sorry!) towards our country's best interests rather than partisan politics and gamesmanship.

Unfortunately, as Dave himself has pointed out on more than one occasion, politics is trumping common sense these days. The Democrats have their eye on `08, and success in Iraq in any form is not part of the equation.

5. Bookworm Room: False Posturing in Congress Ms. Bookworm's incisive piece this week focuses on the Democrats and the circus they're running regarding the Iraq War. As she correctly points out, they are not looking at any long term consequences whatsoever..or really anything else besides their own short term political advantage.

I'll go one step further, and say that the reason for the recent `surge' in anti-war activity has a great deal to do with how successful General Petraeus has been on the ground in Iraq.

Hube's well written piece focuses on school integration policies in Britain under its New Labour overlords....in which multiculturalism is the goal and even public and private schools with exemplary academic records will be designated as `failing' (and thus subject to government takeover) if they don't meet goals for `racial and religious mixing.'

The real motivation is revealed by a couple of the guidelines:

"Schools in rural or suburban areas will be urged to twin with multi-ethnic schools, for example by staging joint plays or sporting events.Faith schools should link up with different denominations while schools with no religious affiliation should arrange trips to churches, mosques and synagogues."

In other words, much of this is about Islam...and will of course go only one way. Could you picture the riots that would occur over the government taking over a Muslim madrassah because it wouldn't send its children to synagoges and churches or expose them to non-Muslim religious doctrine?

Actually, I do see certain similarities in the way a Democrat congress is attempting to legislate defeat, without regard for the casualties,the damage to our military, th effect on our friends and our enemies or anything besides the next election.

And of course, one major difference...this time, the enemy will follow us home.

12. Big Lizards: Dubai Ports Weird Apparently some people, in retrospect are attempting to justify the attempt to turn management of our ports over to a company wholly owned and controlled by the UAE, a nation with considerable ties to terrorism. The new line is that there was a secret deal between President Bush and the UAE, to the effect that if we bribed Dubai Ports World with this lucrative contract, they would allow us to embed CIA agents in all the other ports they managed.

Just one leetle thing...if DPW knew where and who these agents were, why would anyone imagine that they would be allowed to see anything of major importance? Why would anyone imagine that they simply wouldn't be smokescreened and bypassed?

And if the UAE is such a great ally of the US in the War against Jihad, as the president said, why was it necessary to bribe them? Don't real allies help each other in this fashion anyway?

This tool, buried in U of C's `ethnic studies' department first attracted attentionwhen he said 9/11 was fully justified ` a case of chickens coming home to roost' and called the victims of 9/11 `little Eichmans'.

And this is just a sample of the sort of bilge Churchill was putting out in the classroom at tax payer expense, at a public univerity to a captive audience of students.

Of course, that's not why he was fired. A faculty committee investigated and found that Churchill had committed plagiarism and fraudulent research in his other writings.

"I'm not sure we had much of a choice," said University of Colorado President Hank Brown, whose recommendation to dismiss Churchill was upheld by the regents. "The integrity of our research is an integral part of our university."

Umm, no mention about the integrity of what's put out in the classroom, Dr. Brown?

Churchill and his attorneys are claiming that the firing is `politically motivated' and will of course appeal.

Monday, July 23, 2007

See something suspicious? Better keep your mouth shut or you might get sued.

Last week, members of Congress met in conference to finalize provisions of the 9/11 security bill, which is designed to put the recommendations of 9/11 Commission into law.

Part of the legislation was supposed to be the so-called `John Doe' amendment.

The amendment, which protects citizens who report suspicious terrorist activity from being sued, was sponsored by Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.) after the famous case of the jumpin imams, when six imams who were removed from a U.S. Airways flight in November after some very suspicious activity ( to say the least) filed a lawsuit against the passengers who reported their behavior.

The lawsuit is sponsored by unindicted terrorist co-conspirators CAIR and charges that the imams were victims of an "intentional" and "malicious" . . . "conspiracy to discriminate" and seeks compensatory and punitive damages from the airline and "John Doe" passengers - including an elderly couple who, according to legal papers, "purposely turned around to watch them" in the boarding area and then "made a cellular phone call."

The John Doe legislation, called the Protecting Americans Fighting Terrorism Act, passed in the House in April with overwhelming bipartisan support, by a vote of 304-121 - including 105 Democrats. King wanted it included in the 9/11 security legislation as a stand-alone measure to make sure it would pass apart from the larger bill...but the Democrat leadership, Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid both refused to allow the provision to be added to the final version of the bill. Since they control the committees, they were able to kick it out with ease and made sure it never made it out of committee.

Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) likewise attempted to attach the bill to a piece of education legislation..where it was likewise knocked down by the Democrat leadership when she failed to get a 60 vote majority.

"An overwhelmingly bipartisan majority of Congress supports protecting vigilant citizens who are our first and sometimes last resource in the War on Terror," said Steve Pearce (R-N.M.), co-author of the John Doe bill. "But unfortunately they're not going to get the support of the new majority leadership in Congress."

According to the Democrat leaders, John Doe protection will encourage 'racial profiling' and immunity legislation `needs more study.'

For example, the conspiracy by jihadis to kill U.S. soldiers at Fort Dix was foiled by a Circuit City store clerk who alerted law enforcement after the motards brought a terrorist training video in to be reformatted on DVD.

An FBI spokesman called the 23-year-old clerk an "unsung hero" and acknowledged that the plot would have gone undiscovered if he hadn't taken the risk of contacting the authorities after seeing several jihadis screaming "Allah Akbar" while firing assault rifles and engaging in military-type maneuvers on the video and deciding something wasn't quite kosher about it.

But would he have made that call if he thought it might result in a multimillion dollar lawsuit and charges of racism by the likes of CAIR and the ACLU?

"What if this 'John Doe' had contrarily chosen to be silent due to a fear of litigation?" Dr. Jasser said.

Or for that matter, fear of retribution once his identity was disclosed?

The plot to blow up the Sears Tower in Chicago was likewise ratted out by a `John Doe' who knew the perpetrators and hung out at the Saudi-funded wahabi mosque with them.

And it was only six years ago that 19 Arab men boarded four airliners, slit the throats of the stewardesses, killed all the pilots and then flew the planes into buildings and incinerated 3,000 of our fellow Americans.

One of our military intelligence units code named Able/Danger had already identified some of the hijackers, but was forbidden to share this information with the FBI or other intelligence agencies by Jamie Gorelick, an Assistant Attorney General in the Clinton Administration - because it might compromise the terrorists' legal rights!

The Bush Administration did nothing to break down this `wall'...which is one reason that Gorelick's presence on the 9/11 Commission was accepted by them without a murmur, nothing was mentioned about the `wall' and the colonel in charge of the unit was forbidden to testify.

And during the 9/11 Commission hearings themselves, one airline employee who checked in two of the hijackers told the Committee how he had his suspicions raised by their behavior and had them go through secondary screening, but decided not to push for a more thorough search because he was afraid of being accused of racism and profiling.

Of course, this is all part of a single twisted tapestry. A lot of the same congressmen who voted to exclude this also consistently vote against US military preparedness, against border security, against a pay raise and funding for the military,and against any surveillance or security provisions designed to attack Islamist terrorism here and abroad.

And yes, as much as I dislike saying so, I think it's about time we did question their basic patriotism. Hatred for the present administration is no reason to endanger the country.

We are facing a ruthless enemy who knows precisely how to use our respect for freedom against us...and especially how to manipulate politicians and media types and groups like the ACLU who have agendas that have nothing to do America's victory in this war. For the most part, many of them refuse to even consider the fact that we actually are at war..and that it's a life and death fight.

The Constitution was never intended to be a suicide pact, and our successful wars have all been fought under the proviso that a certain level of dissent needed to be temporarily supressed and certain rights needed to be temporarily suspended during the duration for the sake of national security. There was a realization that victory came first, and the implicit agreement that with victory, things would go back to normal. No American government ever failed to honor it throughout the history of our Republic.

That changed with the Vietnam war....the era that a lot of today's Left view as their glory days and one noted for subversion here on the home front.

We ignore what worked for us in the past at our own peril. And we disarm and weaken ourselves when we allow ourselves to put the enemy's rights first, and suspend our basic common sense. Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid and their cohorts have no right to endanger the country for the sake of their political agenda.

And they need to be held accountable for doing so.Remember that in November when you vote.

The one and only John Bolton is at it again, this time in an interview with the London Times...here's a nice bit:

When John Bolton left the United Nations, some of the fun went out of the multi-storey talking shop. No longer was the walrus-moustached rightwinger there to cast barbs at the silver-tongued bureaucrats who took pride in peddling compromises, turned a blind eye to corrupt practices and humoured dictators – the very essence of diplomacy, some might say.

Happily, Gordon Brown’s elevation of Mark Malloch Brown to be his minister for Africa, Asia and the UN, a lofty perch from which the newly minted peer will attend cabinet meetings and play the “wise eminence” to young David Miliband at the Foreign Office, has revived one of the most entertaining transatlantic grudge matches of recent years. If the hawkish former US ambassador to the UN is from Mars, the flexible former UN deputy secretary-general is from Venus. They are on different planets. {...}

“If Gordon Brown knew what he was doing when he appointed Mark Malloch Brown, it was a major signal that he wants a different relationship with the United States,” Bolton says. “If he didn’t know what he was doing, that’s not a good sign either. It symbolizes that the British government is moving to the left.”

In Washington, senior officials were rattled by Malloch Brown’s comments last weekend that Britain and America would no longer be “joined at the hip” and foreign policy would become more “impartial”. They were also taken aback that another member of Brown’s new government, Douglas Alexander, the international development secretary and fervent ally of the prime minister, had the nerve to lecture Washington on its home turf about the need for “multilateralism”.

Alexander’s spin doctors were chastised for giving anti-US briefings but Bolton says bluntly: “I guess my question would be, ‘Who’s in charge here?’ ” The anti-George Bush headlines in Britain provoked a crisis meeting between senior British officials and Condoleezza Rice, the American secretary of state, and Stephen Hadley, the national security adviser. The transatlantic phone lines crackled with irritation. Brown, recognising the need for damage limitation, decided to rush to Washington, bringing his impending visit forward – although Downing Street claimed implausibly the dates were preordained. {...}

Far from wanting the Malloch Browns and Alexanders to pipe down, Bolton is delighted they have spoken up. “My theory is, ‘Let a hundred flowers bloom’,” he says, quoting Chairman Mao (although the Chinese leader never permitted the slightest dissent). Bolton wants the private mindset of the Labour left, the Foreign Office and the United Nations – which has bugged him for years – to be out in the open.

Malloch Brown, he points out, was “simply saying the sort of thing he used to say lurking behind closed doors in the United Nations”, where diplomats have perfected the art of “speaking with four or five faces”. It is important, he suggests, for the United States to “know exactly where the Brown government is going instead of skulking around the hallways”.

“If the Brown government wants to be more European than Atlanticist, let’s hear it. If they would rather not have a special relationship, let’s hear it.” And then comes the zinger: “If they want to be a part of Europe in the same way as Belgium and Luxembourg, let’s hear it.”

Bolton believes Britain must face the question: “Do you want to be an independent country or a county in a big Europe?” The way he tells it is guaranteed to offend our national pride, but you can’t say he hasn’t warned us. “If Britain wants to be subsumed into the European soup, the United States will have to react accordingly – and we will, make no mistake.”

Bolton is pleased that Brown is standing up to President Vladimir Putin over the murder of Alexander Litvinenko, but cannot resist another dig at the prime minister. “I hope that is an indication that he is going to be tough on Iran, too.”

“I hope so,” says Bolton, unabashed. “I don’t regard the use of military force as attractive, but if the choice is a nuclear-armed Iran, there is no question that you have to come down on the side of force.”

Bolton believes the “blind persistence” of diplomacy through the EU3 nations of Britain, France and Germany has merely strengthened Iran’s hand. “What will it take to convince Europe the policy has failed? If we wait till they get a bomb, it will be too late.”

Sunday, July 22, 2007

In today's WSJ Science Journal , there's an article on one tainted export from China to North America that has a higher cost than we might have bargained for - dirty air.

Huge plumes of dust layered with man-made sulfates, smog, industrial fumes, carbon grit and nitrates is crossing the Pacific Ocean on prevailing winds from China and other Asian economies in clouds so huge they alter the climate. These rivers of polluted air can be wider than the Amazon and deeper than the Grand Canyon.

"There are times when it covers the entire Pacific Ocean basin like a ribbon bent back and forth," said atmospheric physicist V. Ramanathan at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in La Jolla, Calif.

On some days, almost a third of the air over Los Angeles and San Francisco can be traced directly to Asia. With it comes up to three-quarters of the black carbon particulate pollution that reaches the West Coast, Dr. Ramanathan and his colleagues recently reported in the Journal of Geophysical Research.

Over the Pacific itself, the plumes are seeding ocean clouds and spawning fiercer thunderstorms, researchers at Texas A&M University reported in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences in March.

The plumes themselves may have a mixed effect on climate....warming things up in some areas because they provide a `layer' that absorbes and holds solar heat, and having a cooling effect elsewhere because the plumes block sunlight...up to ten percent, in some areas of the Pacific.

Once aloft, the plumes can circle the world in three weeks. "In a very real and immediate sense, you can look at a dust event you are breathing in China and look at this same dust as it tracks across the Pacific and reaches the United States," said climate analyst Jeff Stith at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Colorado. "It is a remarkable mix of natural and man-made particles."

Scientists have tracked plumes that average up to 300 miles wide and six miles deep. The higher up in the atmospere the plumes were, the longer they lasted and the faster they traveled.

In a speech aired on JihadTV (al-Jazeerah) , Hezbollah's leader, Sheik Nasrallah stated that Hezbollah has the ability to launch rockets and hit every part of Israel.

"Even in the months of July and August 2006 there was not one place in occupied Palestine that we could not reach, every point and every corner," Nasrallah was quoted as saying. "I stress that we can do this today as well."

Meanwhile, according to the IDF, Hezbollah is now moving most of its rocket arsenal in south Lebanon among civilians in heavily populated villages, with the idea of avoiding detection by Israel and UN troops, and curtailing any retaliation for attacks. Essentially, they're using civilians as human shields.

Last summer, many of Hezbollah's rocket launchers were located in unpopulated rural areas, where they were surrounded by tunnels and fortifications, the officials said. But the army's new intelligence indicates that those positions have now largely been abandoned in favor of populated villages.

The UNIFIL force, of course was supposed to prevent this and according to resolution 1709 were required to ensure that Hezbollah was not rearming near the Lebanon-Israel border. Obviously, UNIFIL has been less than effective...some would even say they've deliberately looked the other way.

Yasmina Bouziane, a UNIFIL spokeswoman in Lebanon, refused to comment on the IDF's charges.

Jimmy Carter is at it again. This time, he's deliberately sabotaging US policy by working to help Hamas and Fatah reunite together to oppose Israel:

"Hamas leader and former Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh met with the director of Jimmy Carter’s Carter Center on Sunday. The director, Scott Caster, told Haniyeh that Carter was willing to mediate negotiations between Fatah and Hamas, an offer that Haniyeh accepted."

Turkey's ruling AK Party supporters celebrated the early results of the national elections as the Islamist AK Party won nearly 50 percent of the vote. This was a much stronger than expected showing.

On the other hand,there are some wild cards on the table. First there is the army,which views itself as the ultimate guarantor of Turkey's secular state and has ousted four cabinets in 50 years, most recently the Islamist predecessor of the AK Party in 1997.

I personally don't see the army intervening unless the Erdogan government crosses some real red lines and attempts to create an Iran-style Islamic republic.That may be in the cards,but not just yet.

Second,there's the opposition in parliament - which is now much more united than it was.

If the Erdogan government finds a compromise candidate for president and continues to tread carefully to keep a consensus, that will be one thing. If Erdogan succumbs to hubris and attempts to throw his weight around, as he did before the emergency elections, that will be something quite different.

Another key point will be whether the Turks increase their attacks on Kurdistan in northern Iraq, especially if they make a grab for Kirkuk, less than 100 miles form Turkey's borders.

At some point, things a re going to come to a head one way or another. For now, one thing's certain - Turkey has definitely made a move toward Islamism.

The Turks have begun voting in early elections today...and it's important.

The elections were called after secular parties and the Army - along with thousands of demonstrators - blocked the Islamist AK party's PM Recip Tayyip Erdogan's attempt to appoint another Islamist from his party, Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul, as president.

Saturday, July 21, 2007

Italian police arrested three Moroccans—an imam and two of his aids—on charges of using the Ponte Felcino mosque in Perugia as a jihad training camp.

There were a number of educational opportunities available for members of the Religion of Peace...courses on hand-to-hand combat and weapons training as well as films and documents downloaded from the Internet teaching how to prepare and use poisons and explosives, pilot a Boeing 747 and send encrypted messages.

Police identified the imam as 41-year-old Korchi El Mostapha, and his two aides as Mohamed El Jari, 47, and Driss Safika, 46. A fourth Moroccan suspect is still being sought,but is believed to be out of the country.

Police also said in a statement that the suspects had contacts with two members of the Moroccan Islamic Combat group arrested around two years ago in Belgium. The Islamic group — known by its French acronym, GICM — has ties to al-Qaida and has been linked to the 2004 Madrid train bombings and 2003 attacks in Casablanca, Morocco.

The Italians have recently tightened their anti-terrorism laws and stepped up surveillance at mosques and Islamic centers.

An interesting use of the term `places where only religious activities should take place'. One hears about churches, abbeys, synogogues and Buddhist temples as being hotbeds of terrorism nearly every day, right?

Just a little something to remember the next time you hear one of the mouthpieces from CAIR or the MPAC ranting about the notion of the US government putting mosques and Islamic centers under surveillance.

Sometimes these places aren't used for religious activities..and even more often, many of them have a very different definition of what constitutes `religious activities' than we would think.

Iran's Ahmadinejad and Syria's Assad had lots to talk about during their recent meeting in Damascus, which also included Hezbollah's Sheik Nasrallah, Hamas boss Khalid Meshaal and representatives of Fatah al Islam, the PFLP and other Palestinian factions. It was a fairly obvious war council and strategy session. Along for the party were 20 high ranking Iranian military figures, including defense minister Mustafa Najar, who met directly with Syrian defense minister General Hassan Turkmani and his chief of staff General Ali Habib.

The big question at hand , of course, is what to do about Lebanon and what they can do to get rid of Siniora government in Beirut. Time is short - the international tribunal is about to be installed to start hearing the Hariri assassination case and that has to be stopped before Assad and his aides ( including a number of family members) are prosecuted.

An overt invasion by Syria is likely out of the question. Syria and Iran have to decide whether to focus on knocking off the Siniora government using terrorism and subversion via Hezbollah and other pro-Syrian factions inside Lebanon, or to try what they did last summer...heating up the situation with Israel on the borders in Gaza, the Golan and Lebanon as a diversionary tactic.

Or both, for that matter.

One of the bits of news that came out of the war council is that Iran has offered to fund, to the tune of $1 billion, new Syrian fighter jets, tanks and anti-ship missiles, and to aid Syria's nuclear and chemical weapons research programs.

After the war council with Assad, Ahmadinejad and the Iranians flew back to Tehran, but reportedly with some additional passengers - Sheik Nasrallah, Islamic Jihad's Abdallah Ramadan Shalah and operations chief Zaid Nahle, and Hezbollah chiefs Imad Mugniyeh and his chief of staff Ibrahim Aqil.

Mugniyeh and Aqil are especially important. Aside from being the military chief of Hezbollah, Mugniyeh is the long time liaison between Iran, Hezbollah, al-Qaeda and the Palestinians.

A Lebanese Shiite, Mugniyeh started out as a top lieutenant to Arafat as part of Force 17 when the PLO was in Lebanon, and later joined Hezbollah, where he organized the April 18, 1983, bombing of the U.S. Embassy in Beirut that killed 63 people and the truck-bomb attacks in Beirut that took the lives of 242 U.S. Marines and 58 French troops. He's also suspected of torturing to death CIA agent William Buckley, and is on the FBI's most wanted list for murdering Navy diver Robert Stethem during the June 1985 hijacking of TWA Flight 847.

A few years later, he joined al Qaeda as one of Osama bin-Laden's chiefs of operations. He was also the moving force behind the Karina-A arms ship that the Israelis hijacked, which involved Iranian arms sent to Arafat via Hezbollah with a Palestinian crew.

Mugniyeh is unique in that he is trusted by all the major players as a liaison and go-between.His participation in this planning session shows exactly how serious Iran, Hezbollah and Syria are at this stage of things, and how far along things are.

In this context, Ahmadinejad's remark promising a `hot summer' in the Middle East takes on an obvious meaning.

Friday, July 20, 2007

And now, it's time for the weekly roundup for Joshua's Army members...a rundown of news and views, featuring me and my close personal friend, Democrat presidential candidate Weekend Monkey!

FF: Hiya Weekend Monkey! Whaddup?

WM: Whaddup yourself FF! Kind of a slow week, hmmm?

FF: Us true news junkies prefer to think of it as more in depth coverage of fewer items. ( cackle) Speaking of small items, uhh, how's the campaign going?

WM: Whoo, I thought you were gonna say something else and get us both in trouble! Same-o same-o, y'know. The work continues, educating the primates.

FF: What did you think of the Senate overnighter, Monkey? Is Harry Reid a bald faced liar or what?

WM: Now, you know I can't go there, FF. I will say though, I agree with Kucinich. If you want the troops out of Iraq that bad, cut the funding and take the heat.

FF: You know, these guys claim to be supporting the troops, but that amendment on pulling the troops out in 120 days was tacked on to a defense appropriations bill that had badly needed funds for equipment for our people, not to mention a pay raise for the troops. Do they give a damn that there are military families struggling to make ends meet, especially people that used to have decent civvy jobs but are deployed with the National Guard in Iraq helping to keep the country safe?

Because of Reed and his pals, the whole bill got shelved.Our warriors don't get their equipment or their pay raise.

WM: Wow, I didn't know that. That's pretty awful...you know I'd never be a part of anything like that, FF.Democrats are supposed to be the compassionate ones.

Howcum the media didn't highlight this?

FF: You have to ask, Monkey? The dinosaur media is mostly in the tank...some of them mentioned it, but you really have to dig.I guarantee you, if a Republican or a conservative had pulled the plug on a pay raise and equipment for our troops, it would be a front page headline across the country.Remember the crap about Bush and the body armor?

WM: Yeah, that's why I read your stuff, FF. Even this Monkey knows better than to trust Katie Couric, the New York Times or CNN. Ummm, so...what's really going on Iraq? I read the Petraeus thing, he seems....what's that torrid little phrase you love to use..cautiously optomistic. At least he seems more on top of things than Abazaid.

FF: Hey, don't diss Abazaid. He was operating under the orders they gave him. But I agree, General Petraeus seems really on top of things. Did you read where they caught the head jihadi from al-Qaeda in Iraq and got him to admit that they had an Iraqi actor pretending to be the head of it, so it would seem more local?

WM: Shoulda auditioned me for the part.

FF: Monkey @#@$!! Trust me, you wouldn't look good in a turban. Anyway, they're pushing al-Qaeda back to the point where they're running out of safe havens. I mean, they caught this clown in Mosul, not in Anbar or Diyali.

The biggest problem is the Iraqi government, but I think that's gonna solve itself.

WM : How you figure, FF?

FF: Well, new elections are coming soon, and the Sunnis aren't going to boycott them like last time. I think that will make a difference. Another possibility is that we might neutralize Iran, although I doubt it. Unless we do, the whole thing is moot anyway.

WM: I read where the Bush Administration and Iran agreed to direct talks.

FF: Yeah, but you know my views on that. It will come to nothing in the end.Still I understand the whys and wherefores of it - that new agreement with El Baradi and the IAEA gives the mullahs another four months to work on their nukes without any problems from the UN whatsoever, so they may as well give diplomacy another shot.

Anywho, assuming Iran is still in the picture, another possibility is that Iraq simply fragments, more or less peacefully into three parts. At least if that happens, hopefully we will have basically set up a situation where things are more stable and Iraq won't become Waziristan South.Or, maybe the new government that's elected in will be more efficient and representative of the 3 major groups.Worth a shot, at least for now.

WM: So, FF, howdja like President Bush's new Middle East plan...as if I didn't know, hee hee!

FF: Very funny, Monkey. If Bush was still a drinking man, I'd say he was heavy into the Jack and percodan.

WM: Oooohweeeee! Still, I think picturing him as Neville Chamberlain was maybe just a leetle harsh.

FF: Accurate though, Monkey. Remember that Neville Chamberlain thought he was doing the good and right thing. He wasn't evil, just naive and short sighted. And as a matter of fact, once he realized how wrong he'd been, he got pretty tough, even Churchill said so - it was just too little too late, and nobody trusted his judgement anymore...including a lot of Brit pols who were just as appeasement minded as he was before and used him as a scapegoat to put the spotlight elsewhere.

Here's the skinny.Bush is doing an `Iraq the Model' thing again, only this time with the Pals, and spending half a billion smackeroos to do it. It's doomed to failure. The Pals are incapable of a state onth eWest bank and Gaza fo ra whole lot of reasons. Plus, Abbas is way too weak to survive on his own, and most Pals distrust Fatah, who have behaved more like mafia dons than real leaders.

Most Pals want to see Fatah and Hamas back in bed together again, so they can fight the Jews. And the other Arabs don't want Hamas isolated, which is why Saudi Arabia and Iran are sponsoring talks between them right now. They will likely be successful, and you know where all that money will go.

Another thing Bush did that I thought was a huge mistake was to conditionally endorse the Saudi Plan, but he talked about it as `a good first step'.The Arabs, particularly the Saudis won't buy that,because it's in their interest to keep the Arab-israeli conflict going. The Saudis gave Israel an ultimatum, and it's not subject to modification. Either the Jews go back to the pre `67 borders and commit national suicide by swamping Israel with `refugees' or face war.

WM: Didn't you tell me the Saudis already told Bush they wouldn't attend that conference he has planned?

FF: Them and our `ally' Egypt.

WM: So if this is so screwed up,why are the Israelis going along with it?

FF: Well, they're being pressured, and the weak Olmert government being what it is, they're dealing. That's why they released all those Fatah terorists and why they are going to keep giving Abbas concessions and money. They'll find out how silly that is when Fatah and Hamas unite against Israel again. Very appropriate that this stuff takes place a couple of days before the Ninth.

WM: The Ninth?

FF: The Ninth of Av, Monkey. It's a traditional day of mourning when Jews lament the destruction of the Beit Hamikdosh,the Holy Temple in Jerusalem by the Romans. It tends to be a day in history when a lot of bad things have happened to the Jewish people.

FF: Yes Monkey. And the guy who did that is one of the people Abbas wants released. To me, that says it all right there.

WM: And they call me and my monkeys animals...hard for me to process somebody doing something like that. Sorry, FF.

Hey, to change the subject, you got any Harry Potter predictions?

FF: Oh yeah! Snape, Voldemort, Neville, maybe Fred and George, Draco and Lucius Malfoy and probably Percy Weasely take a dirt nap, or at least get badly messed up. Harry remains the Boy-Who-Lived,wins out and rides off into the sunset with Ginny slung lenghthwise across his broom.

Pettigew and Snape help Harry,and Neville figures prominantly in the war before he gets offed. Dumbledore's dead, but his ghost,or his portrait still is there to assist Harry. The whole thang with Snape killing Dumbledore was a setup..that's why Dumbledore was begging Snape to go through with it.

Harry finds the Horcuxes, but at some point he gets a chance to go a different way and get incredible power or reward of some sort and give up the mission. Needless to say, our Boy does the Right Thing.

WM: Hey you're a real fan! You realize that you just said a whole buncha stuff that sounded like a baboon on crack to me? Why is this stuff so popular?

FF: Sorry, Monkey. Yeah, I am a fan. I think it's a methaphor, in some ways, for the struggle we're engaged in now. So was `Lord Of The Rings.' My pals Bookworm and Soccer Dad had whole pieces on that this week..but you really would have to read the books to understand.

WM: Hoo! I don't have unlimited leisure time like you bloggers!

FF: Speaking of which, let's wish everybody Happy Weekend...

WM: Happy Weekend Primates! Don't forget to vote...it takes a Monkey! Have a good one, FF!

FF: Take care Monkey! And the rest of you, be good to yourselves...you deserve it.